Blogs

The Ocho hasn’t been this graceful since he caught that six-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer for the AFC North title as he was going down on his back against the Chiefs.

After showering partner Cheryl Burke with a raft of gifts on her 26th birthday (the diamond heart necklace has the tongues wagging), Chad Ochocinco logged his highest score of 25 on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars in all but wrapping up another shot next week.

The Ocho finally sold his most harshest critic this side of Marvin Lewis when judge Len Goodman gave him a nine for the waltz because of his “fluid arms.”

“I don’t know why, but for some reason tonight, it clicked. I was able to flip the switch,” said The Ocho a few hours after the show. “For the first time I felt like I do on the field. I had that same swagger. That same confidence. It’s about time. I’ve been working so hard, I feel like it’s been paying off.”

Goodman declared that he will remember “May 3, 2010″ as the day Ochocinco became a contender.

And he is thinking about football, too. He says he’s getting up at 5 a.m. to lift and run. He got a text from Lewis telling him No. 1 pick Jermaine Gresham looked good at rookie camp. Ochocinco says he’s still on last year’s sked, when he came into the on-field workouts in mid June.